It’s time for another Thursday trip down that road to nowhere that leads right through the private, communal dressing rooms of the stars of Shelf Critter Theatre. This week, we’re going to meet one of the gang’s more mysterious and unsettling members… the stone faced Mr. Fox. Don’t stare too long at him, or his eyes will devour your soul like a school of starving piranhas…
But he’s so cute……
AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!
NAME: Mr. Fox
SPECIES: Fox. Duh, right? Yeah, how many people do you know named Mr. Fox who are actually humans? You never know…
SHELF PERSONALITY: Mr. Fox and the vast emptiness of his eyes just sit and stare…. and sit and stare. Mr. Fox never moves, and Mr. Fox never speaks… even when he has something to day. Sometimes, critters should only be seen and not heard…
Fox heads, fox heads, roly poly fox heads…
RUNNING GAGS: Mr. Fox’s wide eyed gaze is often accompanied by colorful Photoshop brush gimmicks to show that there’s not much going on inside of that empty head of his. Whether he’s stoned or just brain dead is up for debate. The entirety of <r. Fox’s dialogue consists of a long run of ellipses like this: ……………. Whenever a scene calls for swift action, Mr. Fox is always there to disappoint the protagonist… particularly if he’s playing Snuggle Bear’s lawyer.
69 years in prison, AND you have to pay your lobotomized lawyer!
ICONIC SCT ROLE: The only time Mr. Fox actually “did” anything in an official episode of Shelf Critter Theatre was in the apocalyptic story “Rage Against the Machine,” where Fuzzywig’s robotic fox goes on an eye laser rampage and Mr. Fox’s steely gaze serves as critterkind’s last hope for survival…
Don’t cross the streams! That would be messy…
WHAT IS HE?: Mr. Fox is part of a latter day Beanie Baby spinoff series from Ty called The Beanie Boo’s (sic) Collection. These critters are larger, fluffier, big eyed cousins of the infamous late 90’s fad that swept the nation. His ear tag says that his name is Slick, that his birthday is May 1st, and it even comes with this poem…
I’m sly in the forest, I hide under wood
A visit from hunters would never be good.
WHERE DID HE COME FROM?: Ozarkland in Kingdom City, Missouri… the same souvenir shop I picked Rainy up at in 2014. Mr. Fox was my prize on my most recent trip through that neck of the woods in 2015.
And a fine prize he is…
WHAT’S IN A NAME?: Mr. Fox isn’t particularly an imaginative name, though that’s the case for most of my Shelf critters. The Sponkies referred to the vulpine as “Mr. Fox” in the episode “Seasons in the Snow,” and the name stuck. That was his first SCT appearance as more than just a background character.
Angel Sammy got to meet the uncredited Mr. Fox in the previous episode.
ESN PREMIERE: I rearranged the categories of this post to reveal a secret about Mr. Fox that managed to elude my memory. The often used stock photo of the blankly staring Mr. Fox (Which also leads off this post) came from his very first appearance on my blog in the Bashful episode “The Great Debate.” In that story, Mr. Fox is not only credited by his real name SLICK FOX, but after the initial and familiar dialogue of ellipses, Mr. Fox actually TALKS! Yes, he has spoken before. Just not in an official Shelf Critter Theatre scene. Got anything to say about that bombshell, Mr. Fox?
…………….
CAN I GET ONE TOO?: I paid almost $15 for this cute little bastard three years ago from a ripoff souvenir shop. You can buy him today from Ty’s official website for the low price of just $5.99! With free shipping in the US! What a bargain for a stoned, mute fox! Yeah, collectible, my ass….
Mitzi doesn’t care if you depreciate, just as long as you still give tasty snacks.
Come back next Thursday for another Shelf critter who’s just too cute for words…
Love meeting Mr. Fox but my favorite part (no surprise) was the “flashback” to Angel Sammy’s visit to the SCT and all the – er – um – CHARACTERS there. That was an incredibly sad day around here but the distraction of visiting all Sammy’s friends made it bearable – such love and support was as uplifting as Sammy’s hot air balloon. Every cast of characters needs at least one Mr. Fox-type (cute airhead) in the mix!!
Hugs, Pam
As much as the critters enjoyed meeting Sammy, it absolutely killed them to have to be on their best behavior for a day…. especially poor Mitzi! I think my gang has more than a few airheads, though other than Mitz and Mr. Fox, the word cute might be debatable…
That got me to thinking which SCT characters would best play the cast at Ding Dong School! Mitzi would have to be Suzie. Snuggle Bear would be Sarge. Fuzzywig could easily play the Groovy cat. Chip would be the straight laced security guard with the briefcase. And I think Rainy would make a great Miss Dingleberry! I know I wouldn’t be insulting her food anymore if that were the case…
You need to do a take-off on Ding Dong School……you’ve got the characters waiting for the chance that’s for sure – right on the shelf! It would be hilarious…….
Mr. Fox nice to meet you, you look very cute!
He is very cute, it’s just hard for him to put it in words…
A stoned fox, that’s my kind of animal…
He’s pretty zen. You could stare at him for hours and relieve stress…
Om…toke…Om…
Become one with the fox. But don’t bogart him…
You know, I didn’t even partake in 420 and I’m a known pothead in these here parts…
Private, communal dressing rooms are the best. They also make lots of sense.
Yes! I actually added “communal” in on the proofread because it sounded perfectly absurd…
I like to inflate my ego by thinking I’m the only person who caught that.
I’m sorry, I was so mesmerised by the first picture I didn’t read the rest.
You’ll never know when the first post-hypnotic message hits. I do hope it won’t be a suicide mission…
Must… vote for… Trump…
LOL! You just need to get your Russian citizenship…
Those eyes! Mr. Fox, you are a cutie!
The eyes have it…
Those eyes are just a shade between cute and creepy. Can’t decide.
Neither can I, which is why Mr. Fox plays something of an international critter of mystery…
He’s so cute. But also a tad creepy in some way like Tails Around the Ranch says. There’s just something about those eyes! I want to hug him. But I also feel like maybe I should take a look at both paws before I let them go behind my back.
I’m not sure I would trust any of my critters behind my back, let along Mr. Fox. I’m really surprised Uncle Snuggie hasn’t put a knife in my back while I’m on the computer yet…
I’m surprised too. I don’t think I could sit with my back to Uncle Snuggie after seeing that bloody knife image so many times.
There’s a family at my church whose surname is Fox…
It’s a pretty common last name… and I was just thinking how rare animal surnames seem to be. There’s Bird and Fish, but they’re more of a category than a specific critter like a fox. There are no Mr. Squirrels, Skunks, Cats, Dogs, Horses, Cows, Chickens (Well, outside of Don Knotts movies)… you get the picture.